On This Day (March 24)…Difficult to Cure Phoenix

Rainbow performed on this day in 1981 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, Arizona.

Rainbow’s Difficult to Cure Tour was now making its way east across North America. They had begun the tour in small clubs to warm up and adjust to the two new members, singer Joe Lynn Turner and drummer Bobby Rondinelli, before heading over to larger venues.

Despite the fact that Rainbow had routinely played in the US since 1975 when they debuted, they had apparently never been to Phoenix before this performance.

Reviews from this night are an anomaly from the tour. Rather than focus on guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, it was rookie Joe Lynn Turner who received praise as a band leader. The set was altogether well-received, but Blackmore was mentioned as hanging back throughout the set (source).

There is no known recording of this concert.

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